Nine Things You Need to Know Before You Store Data in the Cloud

SWC Technology Partners News

Nine Things You Need to Know Before You Store Data in the Cloud

More and more businesses of all sizes are storing some or all of their data in the cloud. But before you move to an online storage provider, there are some things you should know (and ask) about cloud storage and recovery.

CIO — The amount of electronic information (e.g., documents, images, emails, videos) organizations produce is staggering. Storing all your digital data in your data center can be expensive. That’s why cloud storage — which often comes at a fraction of the cost of storing the information on-premises — has become increasingly popular.

8. Make sure you can recover/restore your data. “When you’re looking for a backup provider, don’t forget to think about the other part of the equation — recovery,” says Pete Lamson, senior vice president at storage provider Carbonite.

“Before you commit your data to a vendor, find out how quickly you’ll be able to get it back in the event of data loss or disruption, what the restore process looks like and what kind of support you can expect to receive if you run into any issues,” Lamson says. “This will help you set expectations for the business and can help you minimize downtime.”

“Many services make backing up easy but restoring data quickly and efficiently can be difficult and costly,” says Aaron Saposnik, infrastructure solutions consultant, SWC Technology Partners. “Check if a vendor will send you a hard drive with your data or allow easy data restore (and if they charge extra for these services) before signing up.”

9. Finally, have a backup plan. “Should you decide to leave the cloud or the cloud provider decides to leave you [goes out of business], have a business plan ready to go to move to a new cloud with minimal disruption,” says Brian D. Kelley, the CIO of Portage County, Ohio.